products in Cuba
By Will Weissert | The Associated Press
7:51 AM EDT, April 22, 2008
Havana, Cuba - New York Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker came to
Cuba on Monday armed with steaks, wine, cheesecake and a feast of other
products from his state, as one of America's top food producers looks to
crack the communist-run island's food-import market.
But in case all that food doesn't whet Cuba's appetite, New York is
betting baseball might.
Hooker, leading the state's first official trade mission to Cuba, also
brought an engraved wooden Rawlings Sporting Goods Co. bat and presented
it to Pedro Alvarez, chairman of Cuba's food import company, Alimport.
``I think it's only fitting that you see here and now one of the great
forest products that we make,'' Hooker told Alvarez at a news
conference, adding that the pair spent part of the afternoon chatting
about the New York Yankees.
Baseball-crazy Cuba is also a major international food importer.
The island spent about $300 million to import U.S. food and farm
products through March and by the end of this year expects to buy a bit
more than the $600 million in American agricultural products it
purchased in 2007, Alvarez said. Those tallies include expenditures for
shipping, banking and transportation costs.
Because of soaring international prices, Cuba expects to spend $1.9
billion on food imports in 2008 --about 20 percent more than last year,
Alvarez said.
Washington's nearly 50-year-old trade embargo prevents U.S. tourists
from visiting Cuba and prohibits nearly all trade between the countries.
But since 2000, the Cuban government has been allowed to buy U.S. food
and agricultural products with direct cash payments.
Cuba at first balked at the measure but reversed course after a
hurricane ravaged parts of the island in November 2001. Since then, it
has spent more than $3 billion on U.S. farm products and related
transaction expenses, Alvarez said.
Cuba buys roughly 1,600 U.S. agricultural products from 35 states. But
almost none are from New York.
Hooker arrived in Havana with 20 officials, including growers and
experts specializing in dairy products, vegetables, apples, wine and
forestry goods.
``Are we a bit late? Perhaps we are,'' Hooker said of New York taking
nearly eight years after direct U.S. agricultural exports to Cuba became
legal to organize an official trade mission.
Hooker said he ``has no expectation'' of meeting new President Raul Castro.
He would not speculate on how much the Cuban market could be worth to
New York, though state officials have estimated the annual value at as
high as $350 million..
Rather than signing contracts, however, Hooker said his four-day visit
will focus on laying the groundwork for future deals.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/cuba/sfl-0422cubany,0,2498502.story
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